The MANTRA (OM) token’s wild crash on Apr 13, 2025, shocked the crypto world. Discover the causes, fallout, and what’s next in MANTRA’s road to recovery.

In the morning and daytime hours of Apr 13, 2025, the MANTRA blockchain's native token, OM, sat at a respectable market cap of $6 billion, making it the third-highest-ranked cryptocurrency in the 

 (RWA) category, the area the platform specializes in. Everything seemed like smooth sailing for the token.

Then, just after 6 PM UTC, the price of the OM token suddenly began to free-fall, declining from nearly $6 to about $0.50 in the space of just two hours.

A project that started the day as one of the top players in the RWA field was now worth 90% less as the evening approached. OM's abrupt, sharp crash immediately caught the market's attention, with speculation of a 

However, MANTRA's CEO, John Patrick Mullin, immediately sprang into action for PR damage control on social media, reassuring the public that the team members weren’t dumping OM tokens at all. Instead, MANTRA's founder and CEO alleged that deliberate actions of some 

 (CEXs) had caused the catastrophic plunge.

As of our coverage date of Apr 23, 2025, this is a developing story. In this article, we’ll establish what actually happened, who's involved and what awaits the OM token in the foreseeable future.

 decentralized network dedicated to RWA tokenization and utilization in compliance with real-world regulatory requirements.

 It features high scalability and low transaction fees. The project is one of the earliest initiatives dedicated to RWA use via blockchain technology. Originally, MANTRA debuted as a 

 (ETH) in August 2020. In October 2024, the project migrated to its own dedicated Layer 1 platform, the MANTRA Chain. The MANTRA blockchain is based on the Cosmos SDK framework, and is part of the wider 

The MANTRA ecosystem's main products include MANTRA DEX, a 

 (DEX); a digital identity (DID) management tool; a compliant token development and management solution; and a comprehensive compliance and permissioning system. MANTRA has also partnered with global powerhouses like Google Cloud, and with DAMAC Properties, one of Dubai's most prominent developers, to propel innovative solutions for 

Starting in late 2024, right after its own dedicated mainnet launch, MANTRA had become a significant player in the RWA corner of 

 (DeFi). By late February 2025, the platform’s native OM token had climbed to a value of nearly $9, with its market cap peaking at around $8.2 billion. Before the fateful events of Apr 13, 2025, OM was the third-highest-capped crypto in the RWA category, trading at $6.27, with a market cap of slightly over $6 billion, according to the CoinGecko portal.

In the evening hours (UTC time) of Apr 13, 2025, OM began to lose its value precipitously, dive-bombing from over $6 to about $0.52 in the space of two hours. The token’s market cap fell to slightly under half a billion dollars — a loss of more than 90%.

CEO John Mullin was quickly online, reassuring the crypto community that no team member had sold their OM holdings, and that this wasn’t a case of the bad ol’ rug pull. Instead, Mullin alluded that after OM tokens were moved to two leading CEXs (Binance and OKX) to use as collateral, the exchanges initiated a cascade of 

 of positions backed by the token. Both exchanges refuted the allegations, and connected OM’s price collapse to its recent unusually high price 

, and significant tokenomics changes made to OM in October 2024 that greatly undermined its value.

As a chain of liquidations took place, the token’s price started to plummet, causing significant panic that quickly led to further price drops. The situation only stabilized closer to the end of the day, with OM’s price remaining under $1. As of Apr 23, it’s trading at $0.5543 — a far cry from its rate of over $6 just two weeks ago.

After investigating, crypto analytics firm Lookonchain concluded that 17 wallets had deposited 43.6 million OM tokens (4.5% of the token's circulating supply) into the implicated exchanges. Two of these wallets are believed to belong to Laser Digital, one of MANTRA's investors. Another investor in the project, Shorooq Partners, is also suspected to be among the 17 wallets. Both Shorooq and Laser Digital have denied the allegations.

Although the price plunge was immediately compared to the 2022 collapse of the 

 (LUNA) blockchain, many analysts point out that the two crashes are fundamentally different. Terra's crash resulted from structural abnormalities in the 

 regulating UST, the project's stablecoin. In contrast, OM's fiasco is suspected to be the direct result of market-driven manipulation by 

, and possibly exchanges. No security breach, disruption to services or data, or other adverse structural events have occurred on the platform.

While this development is unprecedented for the project, MANTRA has been embroiled in other controversies throughout its history. One of these was its 

, first announced in August 2024 and then delayed multiple times. Around 50% of the wallets believed to be bots were cut off from the airdrop list. However, many considered the bot-culling process to have been conducted without much proof.

There have also been reports of vote rigging in the project's governance system in a bid to obscure MANTRA’s centralized model of profit allocation. Additionally, some analysts have accused the project of "forced bridging" to manipulate the market price. Platform users had to migrate their Ethereum-based OM tokens to MANTRA's native OM tokens via 

, which would increase gas fees and allow the project team to control the token's circulation pace.

How is MANTRA (OM) headed toward recovery?

MANTRA’s CEO rapidly reassured users that the team is now working hard to jump-start the token’s recovery. On Apr 14, 2025, Mullin unveiled plans to initiate a buyback scheme, along with the intent to burn all OM tokens held by the project team. The team's supply totals 300 million tokens, representing about 17% of the total supply.

He also denied factually incorrect assertions circulating online that the team effectively controls 90% of OM's supply. Mullin further assured the public that no large-scale selling events by investors have occurred.

As OM’s value has stayed firmly under $1, it remains to be seen how these PR efforts — as well as the planned buyback and burn — will affect the token’s future.

 as a swap pair with USDT, or on the Derivatives market as the 

Naturally, given the ongoing situation with the OM token, buying OM is at your own discretion, as right now the token is truly for the adventurous and brave at heart.

As of Apr 23, 2025, the OM token is trading at $0.5543, 93.8% lower than its ATH of $8.99 on Feb 23, 2025, and 3,138.8% higher than its ATL of $0.01726 on Oct 12, 2023.

Curiously, most crypto price prediction portals are optimistic about the OM token's long-term prospects. DigitalCoinPrice 

 of $1.81 in 2027 and $2.82 in 2030, whilePricePrediction 

It's hard to verify all the allegations flying around regarding the involvement of exchanges and key investors in the MANTRA OM incident. What matters at this stage is that the project team has been quick and proactive in injecting transparency and clarity into the situation.

The free fall in the token's price seems to be over by now. In fact, OM’s decline was over within hours of the incident. Moreover, unlike Terra's LUNA and UST coins, OM hasn't become worthless. All these factors point to potential stabilization and recovery ahead. The question now is: Will the pace and magnitude of the recovery be enough to save the project in the long term? At this early stage after the collapse, few people could answer the question with confidence. We'll eagerly await the developments over the next few weeks to see if MANTRA finds its way out of the woods. 

Intermediate

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MANTRA (OM): Understanding its wild ride and road to recovery

In this article, we explore WalletConnect's features, its native token (WCT) and how you can trade WCT on Bybit Spot and Futures.​

WalletConnect is an open source bridging protocol that facilitates secure connections between digital wallets and 

 (DApps). With over 38 million unique active wallets and 57,000 supported apps, it’s getting noticed by the crypto community. In this article, we explore WalletConnect's features, its native token (WCT) and how you can trade WCT on Bybit.​

 protocol that allows users to connect their mobile wallets to DApps via QR code. This eliminates the need for browser extensions, and enhances security by keeping 

The protocol supports a wide range of wallets and DApps, making it a versatile tool for users navigating DeFi and web3.

 is essentially a decentralized infrastructure that facilitates a uniformed way for users to easily connect their crypto wallets with thousands of DApps. It operates through a network of

 that relay messages, ensuring reliable and secure connections. The network's design emphasizes scalability and resilience, catering to the growing demands of DeFi. 

When a user initiates a connection between their wallet and a DApp, WalletConnect establishes a secure session through a relay server that enables encrypted communication, allowing users to interact with DApps directly from their wallets. 

The network's architecture ensures that messages are transmitted efficiently, maintaining a seamless user experience.​

The WalletConnect ecosystem comprises various stakeholders, including node operators, wallet providers and DApp developers. Node operators play a crucial role by maintaining the network's infrastructure and relaying messages. 

To incentivize participation, the network implements a rewards mechanism whereby node operators earn WCT tokens, based on their performance and contribution. Prominent organizations like Consensys, Ledger and Figment are among the network's node operators, underscoring its robustness and reliability.​

 is the native utility and governance token of the WalletConnect network. It has a total supply of 1 billion, 

Initially, WCT is nontransferable to ensure that tokens remain within the WalletConnect ecosystem, supporting its focus on network functionality and development. Based on discussions within the community, transfers will be enabled based on community consensus and future governance decisions.

Where to buy the WalletConnect token (WCT)

 on Bybit Spot, and as a Perpetual contract with up to 75x 

. Bybit provides a secure and user-friendly platform for buying and selling WCT, allowing users to participate in the WalletConnect ecosystem. 

How to trade the WalletConnect token (WCT) on Bybit

Bybit's platform ensures efficient execution and provides various tools to assist users in their trading journey with ease.​ 

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WalletConnect (WCT): Bridging web3 beyond wallets and DApps

Circle has launched the Circle Payments Network (CPN), a global payment solution designed to streamline cross-border transactions using stablecoins like USDC and EURC for real-time settlement. 

The S&P 500 rose 2.51% as investor confidence improved following President Trump’s support for Fed Chair Powell and hints of easing U.S.-China trade tensions, despite tempered optimism and Tesla’s earnings miss. Gold rebounds toward $3,400 as the US Dollar weakens and investor caution lingers over US-China trade and Fed concerns. Technicals suggest a possible pullback, with focus shifting to upcoming S&P Global PMI data. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, rose 7.46%, with Bitcoin and Ether up 4.68% and 7.70%, respectively, in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is DEEP, up 122.1%, following the launch of DeepBook v3.1 on Sui, which unlocks permissionless pools, enhanced balance management, and cost-efficiency for DeFi.

DeepBook (DEEP), launched on July 12, 2023,  is Sui’s native liquidity layer, using a central limit order book to enable high-throughput, low-slippage, and low-fee trading. 

, introduces several key upgrades: permissionless pools, revamped fee mechanics, and enhanced balance management. These changes make DeepBook more accessible, composable, and cost-efficient for DeFi users. Permissionless pools allow anyone to create custom trading pairs, while the enhanced balance manager supports third-party liquidations and improves protocol stability and user experience.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

, a global payment solution designed to streamline cross-border transactions using stablecoins like USDC and EURC for real-time settlement. CPN offers faster, programmable, secure, and always-available money movement for financial institutions. It supports services like invoice payments, remittances, treasury services, and payroll payouts. Over 20 design partners, including dLocal, WorldRemit, and BVNK, are contributing to building a more efficient global payments infrastructure.

Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $719.2M in total inflows, with $654.1M from non-GBTC funds and $65.1M from GBTC.

 its incentivized testnet, allowing users to earn $SO tokens by testing its cross-chain lending platform. By supplying and borrowing assets across chains and completing quests, participants earn "Seeds," which will convert to $SO at TGE. Powered by LayerZero, Soul aims to unify liquidity across blockchains.

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Circle launches Circle Payments Network for faster, secure global transactions using stablecoins

VeChain (VET) is a blockchain platform focused on sustainability, using eco-friendly technology to support green initiatives across industries and drive a more sustainable future.

Sustainability is now the name of the game across many industries. The blockchain industry is one of them, with several projects aiming to reduce the energy impact of their operations or support green causes in other ways. However, on closer inspection, sustainability has received much less attention in the world of blockchain technology than many people may assume. Indeed, the industry's two leading data portals, CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap, have no "Sustainability" or similar category, despite coming up with hundreds of other classifications.

Some smaller-cap projects outside of the top 100, such as 

 (IOTA), do focus on supporting environmental causes. But in the entire list of top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, only one project can confidently be described as having sustainability as its key pillar — 

With a market cap of $2 billion (as of the time of writing on Apr 22, 2025), VeChain stands head and shoulders above any other crypto project in the sustainability niche. The project has been fully operational since 2018, and is among the oldest environmentally focused blockchain initiatives. In short, if we talk about sustainability and blockchain, it would be disingenuous not to mention VeChain and its 

Having championed green blockchain causes since 2018, VeChain announced a significant upgrade initiative in late 2024 to be rolled out in stages during 2025. Called Renaissance, it’s envisioned to further solidify VeChain's position as the leader of eco-friendly blockchain use and introduce a host of technical improvements. In fact, 2025 is the year of the most fundamental upgrade to this notable industry player in its entire history on the market, so it's precisely the time to revisit this project in our coverage.

VeChain (VET) is a decentralized project designed to support sustainability-focused blockchain use cases across various industry verticals.

 The company was first conceptualized and founded as a blockchain project in 2015 by Chinese technology professional Sunny Lu. It launched its Layer 1 network, VeChainThor (VTHO), in mid-2018, becoming one of the first decentralized initiatives to support eco-friendly applications on-chain. The VeChainThor network features low transaction fees and high levels of scalability.

For years, the VeChain blockchain has remained probably the leading decentralized platform in the niche of sustainability. As of April 2025, it retains the leadership position, and is ranked 56th among all cryptocurrencies, with a market cap of $2 billion.

VeChain's sustainable blockchain technology

Many blockchains claiming to support environmental causes typically use the 

, which is indeed much more energy-efficient than the power-hungry 

 (BTC). By using PoS, these blockchains have boldly announced that their energy use is much lower than Bitcoin's. While this is true, these platforms are essentially general-purpose networks that don't specifically design their operations with any particular sustainability use case in mind.

Instead of these two typical consensus mechanisms, the VeChainThor blockchain uses 

 (PoA), touted to be even more energy-efficient than the standard PoS employed by 

 chains. In a typical PoA consensus, a smaller number of validators with "authority" — i.e., a history of reliable behavior on the network — are entrusted to process blocks. This is in contrast to PoS, whereby many validators take part in the staking contest to outperform each other in terms of token holdings. They then receive the right to validate the next block, and have to constantly align their consensus process with other 

As a result, PoS is usually less energy-efficient than PoA. VeChain's PoA model elegantly combines efficient processing, minimal energy use and high levels of enterprise-grade security.

The VeChainThor blockchain network's processing engine also features compatibility with the 

 (EVM), making cross-chain communication with the Ethereum world much easier for VeChain developers and 

PoA block validation isn’t the only sustainability-minded feature of VeChain. Unlike many other popular chains, VeChain also directly enables sustainability use cases, primarily by utilizing its tamperproof and transparent data-tracking mechanism. Thus, enterprises across different industries can track and reliably verify the origin of goods and their sustainability status for eco-friendly supply chain management. For instance, supermarket chains can use the platform to track and verify the carbon footprint of the produce they source; logistics companies can calculate the overall emissions generated along their supply chains; and fashion brands can track sustainable sourcing of materials used for their product lines.

Besides its own blockchain, the project also offers a blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, VeChain ToolChain, to help businesses integrate VeChain's technology into their business processes via standardized smart contract services.

To further position itself as a champion of sustainability, VeChain launched 

 represents an on-chain ecosystem of DApps that reward VeChain users for completing various eco-friendly tasks, such as using reusable coffee cups, shopping for organic products, picking litter off streets and more. VeBetterDAO is the project’s foray into the individual consumer side of environmentalism, which complements the VeChain platform’s long-standing sustainability features for the enterprise world.

In late 2024, VeChain first announced its planned multi-stage upgrade, Renaissance, to make the platform even more efficient. Its changes are envisioned to take place gradually throughout 2025, and possibly beyond. The Renaissance upgrade touches many parts of the platform, with three key areas involved — a new VeChain staking and node model, technical updates and changes to the dual token mechanism. We'll cover the first two areas below, and the changes to VeChain’s tokenomics in the next section.

VeChain’s PoA block validation model uses a group of 101 trusted Authority Masternodes (AMs) who will fully transition to Validators under the new Renaissance model by December 2025. Each Authority Masternode is approved by the VeChain Foundation. These nodes are responsible for generating transaction blocks. You’ll need to 

 at least 25 million VET to participate in block production, which occurs in fixed 14-day cycles.

Under the platform’s pre-Renaissance model, there are two more types of specialized nodes — Economic and X-Nodes — who stake their tokens to a selected AM/Validator and participate in 

 on the platform. After the Renaissance upgrade is fully rolled out, Economic nodes and X-Nodes will be replaced by a tiered system of Delegator nodes.

Delegators will need to stake a certain amount of VET tokens to mint Delegator 

, which will entitle them to different grades of staking reward multipliers. The more you stake, the higher grade of NFT you receive, and the higher your staking rewards will be. When blocks are produced, AMs/Validators will receive 30% of the total block reward, with the remaining 70% going to holders of the Delegator NFTs.

The image below shows the new Delegator NFT–tiered model, with minimum VET staking requirements and reward multipliers.

While the VeChainThor network is EVM-compatible, there are still differences between its technical parameters and the standard EVM used by Ethereum. For this reason, the Renaissance upgrade aims to reach full EVM compatibility, including implementing the JSON-RPC (

remote procedure call) extensively employed within the Ethereum blockchain.

As part of the Renaissance upgrade, the project will also introduce a new set of tools to achieve more seamless cross-chain capabilities. This will involve integrating new 

The VeChain token model has always been based on two cryptocurrencies: VET and VTHO. VET is the 

 that acts as the main means of value storage and transfer on the platform, while VTHO is used to pay for gas. Now, the Renaissance upgrade also changes the way the dual-token mechanism operates.

Before the upgrade fully kicks in, VTHO is still generated by simply holding VET. After the Renaissance, only staked VET will generate new VTHO for the holder. This should better align VTHO with the active participation of users on the platform. VTHO's inflation rate will also be cut by over 70%, as its issuance will be aligned to a new emission model that considers the total amount of VET staked on the platform.

To further reduce the inflationary properties of VTHO, 100% of all base transaction fees on the network, which are all paid with VTHO, will be 

VET is the platform’s value transfer and storage token. It’s also used for governance and access to various features and apps on the network. VET is a supply-capped token with a max supply of just over 86.7 billion. These properties will not change following the Renaissance upgrade.

VTHO, which is used to pay for gas fees on VeChainThor, is an inflationary token with an uncapped supply. It currently has a total supply of almost 88,7 billion. As noted above, after Renaissance, VTHO will be generated via staking only, and will feature a burn mechanism to reduce its inflation rate.

 as a swap pair with USDT, and on the Derivatives market as the 

In addition, you can take advantage of Bybit’s event dedicated to the VET token to grab a share of a 

. New users can earn VET rewards by accumulating a deposit volume of at least 5,000 VET, or by depositing at least 100 USDT and trading 100 USDT worth of VET via their first Spot trade using their Bybit account. Meanwhile, existing users can also qualify for rewards by trading at least 500 USDT worth of VET on the Bybit Spot market. The event runs through Apr 28, 2025, 9AM UTC.

As of Apr 23, 2025, the VET token is trading at $0.02576, which is 90.8% lower than its ATH of $0.281 on Apr 19, 2021, and 1,243.2% higher than its ATL of $0.001917 on Mar 13, 2020.

Long-term price forecasts for VET are mostly bullish. DigitalCoinPrice 

 of $0.088 in 2027 and $0.14 in 2030, while PricePrediction 

In the long term, VET might even rise to $1, at least according to PricePrediction’s forecast. Its portal is highly optimistic, estimating that VET will hit the $1 mark in 2034.

You might consider investing in the VeChain token VET based on the following:

When Sunny Lu created VeChain in 2015, his vision focused on sustainability issues. VeChain's work in this area has led to the creation of the first decentralized network truly dedicated to making a tangible environmental impact. The entire VeChain ecosystem — including the VeChainThor blockchain platform, VeBetterDAO and VeChain Toolchain — continues to serve as a significant enabler of sustainable technology in the business world.

Now, with the Renaissance upgrade being rolled out for the duration of 2025, VeChain aims to solidify its leadership in this sphere. With the Renaissance upon us, it's hard to see any blockchain platform that could challenge VeChain in the area of sustainability anytime soon.

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What is VeChain (VET): Building a sustainable future for all

Crypto

Blockchain

 Explore top 11 DePIN projects shaping the $3.5 trillion sector. From storage to connectivity, discover Filecoin, Arweave, and more. 

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 (RWA) enjoy significant attention from investors and industry analysts. However, upon closer scrutiny, many projects within these areas are propped up primarily by hype, and often lack profitability. On the other hand, away from the glitz and glamor of the crypto market's center stage, one niche has firmly established itself as a model of profitability: DePIN, an acronym for decentralized physical infrastructure network.

DePIN platforms facilitate the decentralized sharing and utilization of hardware and software resources among users. Numerous computing infrastructure sectors, such as storage, processing power, AI services and media streaming, use DePIN platforms to achieve benefits such as exceptional scalability, cost-efficiency and service variety. With a projected valuation of at least $3.5 trillion by 2028, the DePIN niche of the crypto market is worth keeping an eye on.

Decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) refers to a 

 platform that facilitates an exchange of hardware- or software-based computing resources between users. The exchange happens via a decentralized network that acts as a connecting medium or marketplace for the resources. 

A typical DePIN platform has two main user groups — resource providers and resource consumers. Resource providers contribute their computing power, storage capacity or other hardware/software resources to the network, receiving rewards in crypto tokens. Members of the consumer group pay for access to these resources and source them via the decentralized network, typically on a flexible, per-use basis.

Since resource sellers are rewarded with crypto tokens, there are significant incentives for both individuals and entities, such as corporations and startups, to expand their resource capacities and service offerings on the network. This acts as an essential driver of growth for sectors leveraging DePIN platforms.

For resource consumers, DePIN networks represent an affordable, highly flexible and versatile way of sourcing computing capacity that otherwise would be prohibitively expensive or complex to access.

The DePIN sector is one of the most profitable and resilient areas in the blockchain industry. 

, it currently generates over $1.5 trillion in yearly 

 revenues. The sector’s total valuation is expected to reach at least $3.5 trillion by 2028. Messari's report also predicts that DePIN could contribute $10 trillion to the global GDP over the next decade, potentially reaching $100 trillion a decade later.

DePIN projects can broadly be classified into several categories based on their leading use cases. Each category has the potential to disrupt an industry worth over $1 trillion, indicating the vast growth potential of DePIN. The major categories include:

 — Networks that provide decentralized and secure blockchain-based storage for files, apps and websites. The major players in this category include FileCoin (FIL), Arweave (AR) and ColdStack (CLS).

— Marketplaces or platforms for decentralized lending and borrowing of computing processing power. These include general processing power leasing platforms, such as Internet Computer (ICP) and Akash Network (AKT), and specialized service providers like Render Network (RNDR), which enables the trade of GPU-based computer rendering services.

—Decentralized solutions that facilitate connectivity and the exchange of data among users or devices, particularly in areas like the Internet of Things (IoT) or machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. Notable projects in this sphere include Helium (HNT), MXC (MXC) and IoTeX (IOTX).

— Platforms that use blockchain environments to enable the delivery of rich media resources and services such as video streaming or complex, interactive maps. The primary players in this category include Theta Network (THETA) and Hivemapper (HONEY). 

Let’s have a look at the major DePIN players within these four categories — 11 projects that drive the immensely promising and confidently growing DePIN sector.

1. Filecoin (FIL) – DePIN Category: Storage Solutions

 (P2P) network that provides a decentralized storage solution, marketplace and protocol. Launched in July 2014, it’s probably the oldest project in the DePIN niche of the crypto industry: it all started with Filecoin and its promotion of decentralized storage and retrieval solutions. The platform acts as a blockchain-based alternative to centralized cloud storage solutions.

Filecoin is built on top of the InterPlanetary File System (

), with data stored off-chain. Its use of the Filecoin virtual machine (

) allows for computations and calculations to be performed on the stored data without having to first retrieve the data.

Filecoin provides several advantages over its mainstream competitor, Google Cloud. Its price remains low due to the decentralized nature of the open market and small, independent storage providers. Moreover, Filecoin users can freely switch storage providers, as they all basically offer the same services and API. Finally, the barrier to becoming a storage provider for Filecoin is much lower than that for Google Cloud. All you require is a PC and a reliable internet connection — whereas you'll need legal agreements, marketing and support staff for Google Cloud.

2. Arweave (AR) – DePIN Category: Storage Solutions

 (AR) is a decentralized storage network that aims to provide distributed permanent and immutable storage solutions. Launched in 2018, Arweave is a key competitor to Filecoin in the area of decentralized storage, with its main advantage in offering you permanency and immutability of storage, as long as Arweave exists. Simply pay a one-time fee to securely and permanently store data — or even entire websites and applications.

Resource providers are rewarded with AR tokens for making their spare disk storage available on the network. Since each file is stored in a fragmented manner, scattered across the numerous nodes on the network, no individual resource provider will have your files available on their computer.

3. ColdStack (CLS) – DePIN Category: Storage Solutions

 (CLS) is an aggregator for various decentralized storage network-based platforms, including Filecoin, Arweave and more. It uses AI technology to optimize the decentralized storage of files across different blockchain-based platforms, and can thus be considered a connecting layer that brings together the major storage solutions available on the market.

4. Render Network (RNDR) – DePIN Category: Computing

 that acts as a marketplace for GPU-based rendering services. Computer rendering is the process of creating rich 2D and 3D images, animation and video from initial models outlining the finalized product. This technique is used in movies, video games, architectural visualization and many other fields to create visual representations of ideas or concepts. It’s also a highly resource-intensive process, at least in the case of modern, visually rich games and animations.

Render Network democratizes access to rendering services by providing an affordable and flexible platform on which designers, artists and studios can access GPU processing capacity over a decentralized network on a per-use basis. Those with powerful enough GPUs can also benefit by providing their idle processing capacity in exchange for rewards in RNDR tokens.

In the highly specialized niche of decentralized rendering services, Render Network is the undisputed leader. As of early 2024, no other notable crypto project could even remotely rival its platform in this sphere.

With its focus on supporting visually rich gaming and animation projects, Render Network is also considered a key 

5. Internet Computer (ICP) – DePIN Category: Computing

 (ICP) is a network of distributed data centers around the world that provides hosting and processing capacity to DApps utilizing the platform. Its data centers consist of node providers organized into subnet blockchains that run in parallel to each other. The network’s ability to add subnets regularly allows for scaling to create an unlimited number of DApps.

Data centers providing computing resources to user apps and websites are rewarded with ICP tokens for their contribution. As of mid-March 2024, there are 111 of these centers, located all over the world.

6. Akash Network (AKT) – DePIN Category: Computing

 (AKT) is an open-source decentralized computing power marketplace. In exchange for rewards paid in AKT tokens, resource providers on Akash can contribute their machines' hardware capacity, such as CPU, GPU, memory and storage. Users of the resources can access them more affordably and flexibly as compared to centralized cloud computing solutions. The Akash blockchain is built on top of the 

7. Helium (HNT) – DePIN Category: Network Connectivity

 (HNT) is a blockchain-based platform that acts as a decentralized network of wireless devices. The project aims to provide expansive, virtually limitless wireless internet connectivity, particularly for IoT devices. Helium rewards users with crypto tokens for setting up wireless hotspot devices and joining the network to provide connectivity.

The Helium project was launched in 2019 on its own 

 (SOL) as a DApp in 2023. Helium is essentially a decentralized alternative to traditional internet service providers (ISPs), albeit with the benefit of expansive, global reach. It can be thought of as a global virtual network operator.

8. MXC (MXC) – DePIN Category: Network Connectivity

 Foundation (MXC) is an Arbitrum-based project aimed at building a global data network. The project focuses on using a decentralized data network, the MXProtocol, to power IoT and M2M devices via LPWAN (low-power wide-area network) technology. MXC tokens are used within the MXProtocol to incentivize users to share and trade data, as well as participate in network governance. An LPWAN is a type of wireless network similar to Wi-Fi that provides efficient and secure data transmission for diverse use cases, such as smart cities, logistics, agriculture and more.

9. IoTex (IOTX) – DePIN Category: Network Connectivity

 (IOTX) is a decentralized P2P network designed for IoT connectivity and other use cases. IoTeX enables IoT devices to interact with each other and the blockchain, facilitating data exchange and secure communication. It has a built-in, decentralized bridge that’s fully compatible with Ethereum and other Ethereum virtual machine (

Conceptualized in 2017, the project launched its mainnet in 2019, initially positioning itself as a major IoT-focused blockchain. As the DePIN concept gained traction in the crypto industry, the IoTeX team sensed the enormous opportunities in this area and started to position the platform as a solution for DePIN projects and developers.

10. Theta Network (THETA) – DePIN Category: Media Provision

 (THETA) is a decentralized video streaming network whose users provide their idle storage and bandwidth in exchange for crypto rewards to facilitate the efficient delivery of video content. It isn’t simply a distributed version of YouTube — it’s a blockchain platform for managing the contribution and utilization of computing resources that support the delivery of media content, which typically requires significant bandwidth.

Theta Network can be thought of as a decentralized alternative to traditional, centralized content delivery networks (CDNs) like Cloudflare, Amazon CloudFront and Akamai. Theta currently operates on the EVM-compatible 

, which is a network of subchains connected to a mainchain. This structure allows for unlimited scaling and potentially unlimited transactional throughput. With a market cap of around $2.74 billion (as of Mar 19, 2024), Theta Network is the confident leader in the niche of decentralized video streaming services.

Theta also has a broader vision of becoming a hybrid cloud computing platform, with a fully decentralized global edge architecture. When it 

, it will be able to harness edge CPUs and GPUs worldwide in order to meet growing video demand, AI adoption and the call for new "bite-sized" infrastructure compute services.

11. Hivemapper (HONEY) – DePIN Category: Media Provision

Visually rich media comes not only in the form of video or animation but also as complex, detailed and interactive maps. 

 (HONEY) is a Solana-based DApp that aims to build, maintain and share the world map with a high degree of interactivity, granularity and accuracy.

Users worldwide can contribute to building maps on Hivemapper and earn crypto rewards in the form of HONEY tokens in the process. One way of contributing map data to the platform is to use a dash or phone cam to capture the landscape as you drive or walk across it. You can also earn HONEY tokens by helping to improve the maps in a gamified environment that’s powered by AI technology.

DePIN platforms typically allocate some hardware or software resources — computing power, data, network connectivity or bandwidth — over a distributed network by aggregating those resources from many providers. Each provider might contribute a minimal amount of the resource, but thanks to the decentralized mode of operation, the cumulative contribution leads to boundless capacities held by the network.

Users of the resource can tap into these capacities, utilizing them as much or as little as required on a demand-based, per-use basis.

Hardware and software infrastructure provision has been dominated by traditional cloud services players like Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle. Using their position and bargaining power, these companies have maintained high prices and dictated the terms of the market. With the arrival and growth of DePIN services, this dominance is being challenged. These centralized providers can expect the challenge to become even more intense as the DePIN concept gains more popularity and appreciation.

The growth of DePIN hasn’t come out of thin air; this innovative technology holds numerous benefits as compared to traditional computing infrastructure provision. The key benefits of DePIN platforms include:

Native tokens of DePIN platforms are a critical element that props up the trade in physical resources over decentralized networks. They’re used as a reward mechanism to encourage businesses and individuals to share their computing resources. At the same time, resource consumers use these tokens to pay for access to the required services.

On some platforms, they’re also used as 

, as holders of these crypto assets may participate in on-chain decision-making. This participation often includes voting on the adjustments to crucial parameters, such as the rules of resource contribution and consumption, rates charged, user membership tiers and more. 

In summary, the DePIN sector is vast and continuously evolving, showcasing a dynamic landscape ripe with opportunities for real-world applications. As technology advances and blockchain adoption becomes more widespread, the potential for DePIN to revolutionize various industries is becoming increasingly apparent. Innovation in the space continues to unfold, and DePIN is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of digital identity and data privacy.

Top 11 DePIN Projects to Keep an Eye on in 2024

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